Richard Friedman, who took on Mayor Richard J. Daley, and showed a top Soviet official the ‘real America,’ dead at 93

Richard Friedman at a press conference on CHA housing. Republican Friedman was a 41-year-old Better Government Association lawyer when he challenged incumbent Mayor Richard J. Daley in 1971. Daley won the race, garnering nearly 70% of the vote. (Chicago Sun Times file)

Chicago voters had never seen a candidate like Richard E. Friedman when he entered the political ring in 1971 as a Republican seeking to dethrone Mayor Richard J. Daley.

One daily newspaper columnist, faced with the daunting task of summarizing Mr. Friedman, simply dropped a pile of words at his readers’ feet with a lede of “He’s got:” followed by 15 bullet points that included: a kayak, a red motorcycle, an orange Porsche, a hot air balloon, a brown belt in Judo, a glider pilot’s license and “a pretty TV news chick for a girlfriend.”